Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri temples to open on Friday

DEHRADUN: The Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri temples in Uttarakhand are set to reopen for devotees on Friday after their annual winter closure. These renowned temples, located in the Garhwal Himalayas, are closed every year during the winter season due to heavy snowfall and are reopened at the beginning of summer.

The Kedarnath and Yamunotri temples will open their doors at 7 am, while the Gangotri temple will welcome devotees at 12.20 pm, according to temple committee officials. Badrinath, another important temple in Uttarakhand's 'chardham yatra,' is scheduled to reopen at 6 am on May 12.

Harish Gaur, the media incharge of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), stated that Kedarnath is being adorned with 20 quintals of flowers. The five-faced idol of Baba Kedar, which is transported from its winter residence at Ukhimath's Omkareshwar temple to Kedarnath, has departed from Gaurikund, the final stop on its journey back to Kedarnath. The idol will be reinstalled inside the temple with elaborate rituals and worshipped before the temple opens its doors to devotees.

The BKTC volunteers carry the idol barefoot on their shoulders from Ukhimath to Kedarnath every year, with devotees from India and abroad joining the procession, Gaur added.

In a related development, 135 vehicles carrying 4,050 chardham pilgrims were flagged off from Rishikesh on Thursday for the Himalayan temples. Cabinet Minister Premchand Aggarwal, speaking at the flag-off ceremony, predicted that a record number of pilgrims will visit chardham this year.